I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rapid prototyping of electronic systems, and in particular, to systems and methods for assembling and configuring wireless transceiver components.
II. Description of the Related Art
The performance of a wireless communication network is inseparably linked to the physical layer algorithms on which it is built, the hardware used to implement the wireless links, and the wireless environment in which it operates. One major difficulty with operating a wireless network is the need to replace or redesign hardware when operating requirements change. This well-recognized need in the art has driven the development of software-defined radios in which many of the components that were typically implemented in special-purpose hardware are instead implemented in software by a general-purpose processor. The rationale behind such a design is to enable a radio to transmit and receive a variety of different wireless protocols based solely on the software used.
Many transceiver functions cannot be implemented entirely in software. For example, analog-to-digital (A/D) converters lack the discrimination to pick up sub-microvolt, nanowatt radio signals. Therefore, a low-noise amplifier (LNA) must precede the A/D converter. Since spurious signals cause an LNA to introduce distortions in the amplified signal, band-pass filters are typically used between the antenna and the LNA. This reduces the radio's flexibility, thus eliminating many of the proposed benefits of software-defined radio.
An integrated hardware and software system is required to fulfill the need for a functional, versatile, and rapid prototyping platform. This often requires that both hardware and software be developed concurrently, or else substantial hardware redesign must be considered when software is developed that cannot be supported by the current hardware. While multiple approaches are used by hardware designers to solve this problem, including computer-aided design, hardware emulation in software, and using Field Programmable Gateway Arrays (FPGAs), all these solutions have numerous draw backs, most notably being they are generally used only for prototyping until a final design is locked down.
Furthermore, there is a need in the art to provide the end-user of a wireless communication network with the ability to easily adapt, rapidly modify, and deploy wireless devices in response to changing end-user needs and network operating requirements.